Countdown to the New Year
by smilelaughread
Summary: Six drabbles set in the Marauders' era, and then five more set in the Trio's Era. Written for Addicted-To-Sugar-Quills' Happy New Year Challenge at HPFC.
1. Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five

**This was written for Addicted-To-Sugar-Quills' The Happy New Year Competition at the HPFC forum. Six short drabbles revolving around New Year's. There is a slash pairing, just to let you know, though it's very, very, brief... :D**

**These are the pairings I use during this chapter. **

**Lily/James**

**Molly/Arthur**

**Alice/Frank**

**Unrequited Lily/Snape**

**Sirius/Marlene**

**Unrequited Remus/Sirius**

**My prompts were: Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, and Five.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><span>LilyJames – Prompt: Ten

Lily felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to the owner of the finger. She knew who it was without even looking.

"James Potter! If you ask me one more time to go dance with you, I'll strangle you!" she said, annoyed and exasperated. She shared looks with Alice, with whom she had been speaking. Alice gave her a look that clearly said, "Have fun," and the turned and left, probably to go find Longbottom.

"What are you talking about Lily?" James asked. He obviously knew what she was talking about, but she took the bait anyway. It was good stress relief.

"You've already asked me nine times—this is the tenth time you've asked me to dance. Tell me, Potter, if you're so clever, what are the chances that if I've said no nine times, I'll say yes now?"

He continued as if she hadn't said anything.

"Lily, will you do me the honour of dancing with me?" James grinned immediately after, in a way that he probably thought looked cool.

Lily shook her head with vehemence.

"No."

"But it's New Year's Eve, and it'll be a new year in ten minutes! Please dance with me!"

Lily thought about this for a moment, wavering between a genuinely sorry feeling—it was New Year's, after all—and that annoyed feeling that bubbled up whenever James came close.

"No."

"But I'm desperate here! Come on, you're killing me, I need your amazing dancing skills to save me!"

"No, you're rather amusing like this... in a pathetic way, of course"

"So you'll dance with me out of pity?"

Lily smiled slightly at his quick answer, buy still shook her head.

"Nice try, Potter, but NO!"

"Too bad."

Lily caught sight of the mischievous smile the teachers hated a moment too late. By then, she was being pulled closer to James and being whisked onto the dance floor. For a moment, she found herself enjoying the closeness, the music, the dancing...

But then she remembered who she was dancing with and froze. That led to James tripping over her feet and nearly crashing into her.

"God, I'm sorry!"

Lily shifted her embarrassed face up so that she could see him, and it happened just as he looked down at her. Their lips met.

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><p><span>MollyArthur – Prompt: Nine

Arthur and Molly stood in silence for a few moments, not feeling in the mood to celebrate the New Year that was rapidly approaching. Arthur felt eyes on his cheek and looked over at his girlfriend. She had tears tracks staining her beautiful face.

"Molly, dear, don't cry."

Her lower lip wobbled slightly, and for a few long seconds – nine, maybe -, she looked about to do just that. Arthur gestured to the chair, and Molly sat down gingerly.

"Are you alright?"

Molly looked murderously at him, but then reverted to her earlier miserable mood.

"I know Pomfrey wasn't very nice about it, but I promise it'll be alright. We can even go to the ball right now if you want to-"

"I'm PREGNANT!" she screeched, and Arthur became glad of the silencing charm he had put up.

"Shh. It's all going to be alright. She told you we could put up glamour charms to hide evidence from everyone, and that you could take some potions to minimize the symptoms. Besides, it's our last year, we're off after this. I was planning on asking you to ma-"

"What?"

Arthur scratched his head slowly, trying to think up a way to get out of this without much trouble.

"Well, Molly. See, I love you so, so much! I wanted to – I was planning it - ask you to marry me at the end of the school year."

Molly looked up at him, one orange curl falling into her face. Many emotions flickered over her face, and then she smiled. Arthur let out a breath that he hadn't known he was holding, and then took her hand.

He lowered himself down onto one knee, holding a little box behind his back.

"Molly Prewitt, will you be my wife?"

She smiled even wider and nodded eagerly. She pulled him up and planted a kiss on his lips as a way of saying thanks.

"I love you," she said into his lips.

"I love you too," answered Arthur, pulling her closer "And in nine months, I'll have one more person to love!"

Then Molly grabbed him by the tie and pulled him forwards, falling onto the bed with a giggle.

"Happy New Year, Molly."

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><p><span>AliceFrank – Prompt: Eight

Frank leaned back in his seat so that he could look at Alice. She was sitting a few seats down, and was immersed in her work. She looked so sweet like that, so vulnerable and delicate. Her partner said something, and she laughed quietly in a way that sounded like wind chimes clitter-clattering in the breeze.

She added something to the potion, and it bubbled rapidly, turning a very dark shade of green.

Frank looked at his potion, which resembled vomit – it was green-yellow and thick – ugh!

"It wouldn't be so bad if you weren't making eyes at Growitt over there." Frank realized that he had spoken his thoughts out loud.

"Sorry," he apologized, though he was already craning his neck to take another look at her. She was now bent over her parchment, quill in hand, scribbling her observations down madly. It was rather endearing the way her hair fell out from behind her ear, no matter how many times she pushed it back.

"Just ask her to the holiday ball, it's still eight days away! Besides, this is our seventh year at Hogwarts, there's no eighth year. Now or never." his lab partner seemed exasperated and confused at Frank's refusal to ask out a girl he was obviously smitten with.

"I think she has already agreed to go with someone else." Frank had been most disappointed to hear that.

"So what? Just ask her."

Eight days later, Frank was leading Alice into the lavishly decorated Great Hall.

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><p><span>Unrequited SnapeLily – Prompt: Seven

Severus Snape stood in a corner, feeling grouchy – grouchier than usual, that is. He watched the ball unfold through half-closed eyes, sipping his sixth, maybe seventh large glass of punch. It was definitely spiked, though it wasn't with anything as obvious as Firewhiskey. Whatever, it was working.

He watched as Lily Evans, most beautiful girl (woman) to ever grace the world with her presence, was whisked onto the dance floor by that buffoon Potter.

He scoffed as she laughed and threw her head back in mirth, and vowed to someday hurt James Potter as he said something again. How dare he steal Lily? Lily was his! No one in this school understood Lily like he did. No one knew about her sister's hostility, no one knew how many times she had been made fun of for being a freak.

But _no_, she had to go and be sorted into Gryffindor. As if that wasn't torture enough, she had to go and become someone he didn't like, someone who followed all the rules, laughed at some of Black and Potter's jokes, and Head Girl. None of that mattered, though, no matter how hard he tried to hate her.

She was still Lily. Lovely Little Loopy Lily with the bright smile and the kind words.

Severus watched with disgust as she pressed her lips up and to _his_. He tried to count to ten in order to calm down, but only got to seven before he felt bile rise up into his mouth and he had to turn away.

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><p><span>SiriusMarlene – Prompt: Six

"Sirius Black, come back here!" Marlene shouted loudly, though she knew her protests were to fall on deaf ears. This was the sixth time that night that he had tried to get away from her, trying to slip away when one of her friends approached or when she went to go get punch. He refused to dance with her, and she was frustrated.

It had taken an hour to get into this dress, two more to finish getting ready, put her make-up on, and then for her to gain the approval from her classmates. That plus the three hours spend finding the dress in Hogsmeade amounted to a total of six hours getting ready for this ball. There was no way that she was going to waste all that hard work on a date that only wanted to get away.

She grabbed his cloak, pulling him back into her.

"What do you want?" he asked with a slight hint of petulance in his voice. "I was with you all of tonight, let me go and say hello to Remus, and then I have a brilliant idea for a pra-"

"Black, if you say the word "prank" one more time tonight, I swear you will not know what hit you."

"Are you trying to threaten the King of Payback?"

Put like that, it was a silly thing to say, Marlene acknowledged.

"Fine, Sirius, I'm sorry. Can we just dance to this one song?"

He nodded, a bit stiffly, she thought. He pulled her even closer and began to dance. He led her strongly, and he most definitely didn't seem to have any trouble with where to place his feet. It was probably the result of etiquette lessons as a child; she had heard some of her Pureblood friends – with traditional parents – complaining about the hours spent learning a multitude of dances.

She felt herself smile mechanically as she was twirled and taken around the Hall, feeling the puffy skirt of her dress float up and around in a circle. They were picking up speed, and Marlene became aware that they were now entertaining some of their classmates.

When they finished, Marlene took it as a goodbye. The relationship had only been going on for a week, and she had always known that she wouldn't be the one to crack him. Sirius kissed her cheek and disappeared. Marlene let him go.

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><p><span>Unrequited SiriusRemus - Prompt: Five

Sirius felt Marlene's eyes on his back for a few moments before he disappeared into the crowd of students dancing. He weaved his way in and out of couples dancing merrily, searching for Moony.

He finally spotted his friend after a good five minutes of looking, dancing with a girl with pink hair. _Pink hair._

She reminded him of his cousin Andromeda who went to work with a metamorphagus and studied metamorphagi because she found them interesting. He found the idea rather intriguing, but that was obviously done by a (not very skilled) hairstylist. And also, he wasn't supposed to know what Andy was up to these days.

So Moony liked pink hair, did he? So then Sirius would dye his hair pink. Remus pulled her close, closer than some teachers would approve of. She was a sixth year, Sirius knew. He thought she might have a distant relation to the Greengrass family. She had that aristocratic look about her. Her nose was stuck into the air so high that Sirius thought she might just topple over backwards.

She was smiling though, so that had to be a plus.

_Go Moony, _he thought miserably. _You can get her. You need a gi-girlfriend anyway. I've had five - relationships, not only girls - 'till now, it's your turn. We're in our seventh year next year, you're almost out of time. Too bad I want to be your first._

He swallowed hard and backed away from them, feeling pain rising up into his chest, making it feel too tight and too small and too- He broke into a run.

Before he got completely out of earshot, he heard an exchange between the two of them.

"You, Remus Lupin, are one very good dancer."

"Why thank you Lorri, you're not so bad yourself."

_Ugh._

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><p><strong>Part two will be up soon, I promise! That will include the following pairings:<strong>

**Remus/Tonks**

**Dean/Seamus**

**Harry/Ginny**

**Neville/Luna**

**Ron/Hermione**

**Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**This was written for Addicted-To-Sugar-Quills' The Happy New Year Competition at the HPFC forum. **

**Happy New Year, Everyone! **

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><p><span>RemusTonks - Prompt: Four

Remus could sense that someone was following him, but he didn't turn around or reach for his wand. He was currently in a muggle neighbourhood, on patrol for the Order. Everyone was on guard these days, especially after Dumbledore's death. He didn't worry, though; he had a plan.

Remus rounded a corner, and turned into an alley. He knew he was out of sight from the person who was following him. He heard four steps, a pause, and then a feminine huff. Remus jumped out from his hiding place and tackled whoever it was, pulling his wand out as he did.

The person squirmed and looked uncomfortable, hair colour changing every four seconds from red to blue to orange.

"Tonks?"

She looked up at him levelly. "Would you like to get off me?" she asked.

He immediately got off, but kept his wand out. Only after asking a security question and receiving the correct answer did he lower it.

"Why were you following me?" he asked, slightly annoyed. He wasn't as angry as he should have been which annoyed him further. Who did she think she was? Her hair turned a few different shades of fuchsia before settling on an appalling bubble-gum pink. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why is your route so long? We must have walked four kilometres! I'm so tired it's not even fun-" Her attempt at normal conversation failed, and she stopped talking.

"Why were you following me?" He was going to be late for the portkey at the end of his route, and it was going to be all her fault. Remus tapped his foot impatiently.

If he didn't know better, Remus would have said she blushed.

"Remus, we still haven't talked about…"

"I don't want to talk about it. In fact, there's nothing to talk about!"

"It's been four months since we've properly spoken to each other."

"I don't care."

"I love you, Remus. Always have, always will."

Remus sighed and looked straight at Tonks. "I love you, too. But my _condition_-"

"Remus, we've been in a relationship – if I can call it that – since New Year's Day. Don't tell me almost half a year meant nothing to you."

"There's a war going o-"

"All the more reason to get on with it."

That made Remus suspicious. What was she talking about? "Get on with what, exactly?"

"I meant to say," she looked flustered, which almost never happened. "Marry me, Remus."

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><p><span>RonHermione – Prompt: Three

It had happened three months after the final battle at Hogwarts; Hermione and Ron had announced their engagement.

It seemed all was forgotten from their time on the run. Maybe not forgotten, but dealt with and put away. Harry envied their relationship, if only a bit. They were getting ready to get married on New Year's Eve – in three months, give or take a week or so. He and Ginny hadn't progressed much in terms of their relationship. Everyone was still healing from all the losses.

One morning, Harry was making his way to the Burrow's kitchen. He heard voices coming from within, and so he hid in the shadows. Hermione's laughter spilled out into the hallway, and Harry realized it Ron and Hermione were in there.

Harry turned to leave; his friends deserved some privacy, after all.

He couldn't help but overhear a part of their conversation.

"I love you, 'Mione. I can't wait to say 'Happy New Year' and then 'I do'." Ron sounded almost giddy with happiness.

Harry grinned all the way back to his room. They were perfect for each other, and they deserved to be happy.

Harry, himself, couldn't wait to watch them say the vows, to be in the front row, to watch them dance, and then to send them off to wherever they were going for their honeymoon. Besides, he had to start working harder to catch Ginny's attention.

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><p><span>HarryGinny – Prompt: Two

Harry had been making steady progress for the past few months. In fact, Ginny was going to be his date to Hermione and Ron's wedding – which was happening in less than two weeks!

Harry heard a knock on his apartment door. He had recently moved into a small apartment near the entrance to Diagon Alley. He gripped his wand out of habit, though he was fairly sure he knew who it was.

"Ginny!" Harry grinned at her, and she returned the smile easily. "Would you like to come in?"

Ginny giggled and stepped in, though she frowned soon after.

"This place is a mess!" Ginny announced a few seconds later. It was true, living on his own without the Hogwarts House-Elves or Molly to clean up his messes, and without the Dursleys to make him clean, Harry had turned this place into something resembling a dump. He usually tried to clean before Ginny arrived (by shoving everything in a closet), but this time he had forgotten.

Harry padded over to Ginny and pulled her into a hug. When that didn't distract her, he tried to kiss her.

She was too distracted to respond, so he gave up and decided to observe her for a few seconds. When she pulled out her wand, however, he stepped forward.

"Don't clean for me, that's not fair! It's my fault, so you don't have to-"

"Are you offering to clean?" she raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. He shrugged and began picking up clothes. How had that sock gotten into the sink? A minute passed, and then another. Then, Ginny joined in, casting different charms. Between the two of them, it only took twenty or so minutes to make the apartment spotless.

They slumped down on the couch, tired. Ginny snuggled into Harry, who tightened his hold on her. Her breathing began evening out and he realized that she was about to doze off.

He let her – mediwitch training had turned out to be quite exhausting, and Ginny constantly looked tired. Harry watched as she breathed in and out. She looked quite peaceful like this. Her hair was spread out on his lap and he began smoothing out. His hand fell into a rhythm, and soon he found himself dozing off as well.

Before he could fall asleep, he thought he heard Ginny mumble, "Love you, Harry."

"Love 'ou too."

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><p><span>DeanSeamus – Prompt: One

Something was knocking on the door, and it woke Seamus. He sat up, disoriented, and heard Dean mumble from beneath the covers.

He looked around and realized the obnoxious knocking was actually coming from the window.

"One more minute, I'm tired." protested Dean, and Seamus stifled a laugh. As silently as he could, Seamus crept out of bed. His bare feet made soft sounds against the cool floor, which was about to become even colder. He pushed the window open to let the owl in, and then quickly closed it. Unfortunately, just as he closed the window against the cold December air, another owl arrived. Seamus let that one in as well, feeling confused. He didn't recognize either owl.

One of them hung back, while the other stuck out a leg at him. He reached forward cautiously and took the letter off. He ripped the envelope open and pulled out the fancy paper that was found within.

_Hermione and Ron_

_Request the pleasure of your company to celebrate their wedding._

_New Year's Eve at the Burrow_

_Bring a date!_

_Confirm by floo call._

"Oh… Dean! Look at this!" Seamus jumped on top of Dean, waking him up with a start. Seamus seemed at a loss for words, and simply thrust the invitation into Dean's face.

"What's the…" Dean grabbed the invitation, read it, and grinned. "This is in happening less than a month! One month!"

Seamus was still speechless. Who would have thought that two of the three saviours of the Wizarding World would remember their old roommates from school? He hadn't even been particularly nice to them. If the thought back to fifth year, he cringed.

Dean was still babbling. "We'll need to get them a gift. Oh, yeah, one more thing. Seamus, would you be my date?"

Seamus grinned and pretended to swoon.

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><p><span>NevilleLuna – Prompt: Happy New Year!

Neville gulped as he stood up. He was wearing his finest dress robes, and was quite excited to be here. Not only was he attending the engagement party of some of his closest friends from school and was celebrating the end of the year, it was the official end of Voldemort's reign, the end of fear, the end of the darkness that had been overtaking the Wizarding world for years.

He raised his goblet above his head and waited for everyone to fall silent. He had been practicing this speech for weeks.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he started "I would like to propose a toast to two of the most important people in the Wizarding World. May their days be filled with happiness for as long as they live, and beyond that."

Neville looked at the couple in question – both were looking red and embarrassed, though they were still grinning.

"Congratulations, Ron and Hermione!" Everyone clapped, and Neville joined in as well.

Before everyone began talking again, Neville cast a time spell.

As soon as the significance of what was shown on the clock was interpreted by the masses, they began chanting. "Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One… Happy New Year!"

Everyone raised their glasses and drank, then the party began. Neville watched as Ron led Hermione onto the dance floor. Many couples followed.

Suddenly, Neville was being pulled backwards and he nearly fell over. Just as he was about to protest, a pair of lips pressed themselves against his. The contact was brief, but left him without breath

"Happy New Year, Neville." Said a voice he would recognize anywhere.

"Happy New Year, Luna."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading, Review?<strong>

**Happy New Year!**


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